Charges dropped in killing of pit bull

This is a discussion on Charges dropped in killing of pit bull within the In the News: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly forums, part of the The Back Porch category; all I want to know is why "charges" were ever brought in the first place??
AFS...

I always tell my wife, that if a pit bull even looks at one of my kids with a cross eye, he'll feel a hydroshock in the head for sure. I've seen too many other dogs eaten by pits to even imagine what one of my kids would look like hanging out of that dogs mouth by the throat.

According to CDC stats the breed that inflicts the most bites yearly is the Cocker Spaniel ... NOT one of the so called "dangerous breeds".

Them little Dogs anything smaller than say a lab or irish setter or heel nippers as i call um are the ones you got to worry about getting bit by more repair men are bit each year by a heel nipper than a real dog

I have not problem with big dos havent been bit yet had little heel nippers try to get me though ..size 11 takes care of that

The worst bite I ever received was from my long gone
Pekingese/Chihuahua mix....she was on my lap asleep, I moved her with my face too close to her...BITE....got me on the lip. She immediately realized (after the bite of course) that she was probably in deep kimchee.

Man is acquitted in dog killing
The repairman says he felt threatened by a tenant's pit bull

BY OSITA IROEGBU
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jul 26, 2005

PETERSBURG -- A Hopewell man testified yesterday that he shot and killed a 3-year-old red-nosed pit bull because he felt his life was in danger.

"I was afraid to death," Gerald Dupree said during his trial yesterday on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and discharge of a firearm in public.

"It seemed worse than when I was in combat," the Army veteran said of the confrontation.

Judge Lucretia A. Carrico of Petersburg General District Court found Dupree not guilty on both charges and said Dupree's perception that he was in danger was reasonable and that he acted in self-defense.

Ken Blaylock, assistant commonwealth's attorney in Petersburg, questioned whether "there were other things [Dupree] could have done that would have been more reasonable" than shooting the dog.

According to testimony, Anna Wallace, the dog's owner, called her landlord, Drucker and Faulk, on May 27 to have her air conditioner fixed.

Minutes later, Dupree, a maintenance supervisor, arrived at Wallace's home on St. Mark Street in Petersburg to work on the air conditioner.

Dupree testified that as he walked to the backyard to begin work, he "noticed two pit bulls and hesitated." Both dogs were chained and barking, he said.

Dupree then walked back to his truck to retrieve his tools and also brought his gun.

"It was like a second thought to take the pistol with me," Dupree said. "I wasn't expecting anything to happen."

According to Dupree, the pit bull, named Diamond, somehow got free of her chain and was running toward him as he knelt down. Dupree said he jumped up, grabbed the pistol and fired.

Diamond turned and ran about 15 to 20 feet in the opposite direction before she headed toward Dupree again. Dupree shot a second time.

Dupree said he didn't have time to run and tell someone about the dog because she "was too quick."

Wallace, who was in her home with her baby, saw Diamond lying on the ground from her window after she heard the gunshots. She walked outside where Dupree displayed his gun and a concealed-weapon permit in his hands, unloaded the gun, apologized for shooting her dog and continued working on the air conditioner.

Blaylock argued that Dupree didn't know if the dog was being playful when it ran toward him and that Dupree may have been "oversensitive to the dog" because he had been bitten before by another dog.

Wallace, who said she believes Dupree could have told her he was uncomfortable around her dogs instead of getting his gun, testified that Diamond was friendly and energetic and had never attacked anyone.

Henry Otis Brown, Dupree's attorney, said Dupree saw the dog as a "clear and present danger. So he shot the dog to save himself."

Petersburg, Va.---Today, PETA sent an urgent plea to Commonwealth’s Attorney Cassandra S. Burns, urging her to vigorously prosecute Gerald Dupree of Hopewell. Dupree faces charges stemming from a May 27 incident in which he allegedly fatally shot a dog, Diamond, near her guardian’s yard. According to news reports, the defendant evidently had the opportunity to access his vehicle—and thus escape the purportedly aggressive dog—in order to secure a gun with which to shoot the animal. Dupree is scheduled to face these charges in Petersburg General District Court this Wednesday, July 13, at 11:30 a.m.

Interestingly enough, I found this comunique via the cached pages at Google. I couldn't find it in PETA's website anymore........wonder why....